The early bird gets the worm, according to experts, because early dinners result in better sleep.
As “early bird dinners” trend on TikTok — for health reasons and also to beat restaurant crowds — nutritionists and sleep experts have weighed in on the benefits of eating hours before going to bed, including an improved quality of rest.
Doctors say that eating too close to bedtime can cause heartburn or indigestion, and that instead, your last bite should come four to five hours before for the best chance at optimizing your circadian rhythm for deep sleep.
“Going straight to bed after a meal, particularly if the meal was large and/or contained high amounts of fat or spices, increases the chances that the food you just ate is still being processed by your body,” Dr. Farhan Abdullah, a board-certified internal medicine physician and the medical director of Magnolia Functional Wellness, told The Independent. “As such, your stomach could continue to produce excess acid, [causing] your body to become uncomfortable through bloating, or create pressure on your lower esophagus through gas buildup.”
“If you let some time pass before going to sleep…then your digestive system will calm down and your body will be able to relax into a state where you can fall asleep quickly and remain asleep until morning,” he said.
“This is a rare case where a TikTok trend actually aligns with basic human biology,” Alex Dimitriu, a sleep medicine specialist, told Heathline. “Eating earlier improves sleep by reducing digestion while asleep, and minimizing acid reflux, both of which can be disruptive to a good night’s sleep.”
Registered dietitian Julia Zumpano told the Cleveland Clinic: “An earlier dinner gives you a good amount of time to digest your food and allows your blood sugar to properly rise and fall after dinner. So, you’re not going to bed with a full belly or skyrocketing blood sugar. In fact, people who eat an earlier dinner often report better sleep.”
Zumpano went on to say that if there is no choice but to eat dinner later, being active after eating could be beneficial.
“If you’re eating dinner and going straight to bed, that’s going to slow down the digestion process,” she explained. “If you take a short 10- to 20-minute walk or do something active like clean the kitchen, vacuum or mop, or any moderate amount of movement is going to help with digestion.”
In addition to eating earlier, other diet changes that can improve someone’s ability to fall asleep include cutting out caffeine and sugary foods in the evening.
